This month, we went to see the latest animated film at the cinema. Yes, I’m an adult with a fondness for animated films, who isn’t? Tangled is a light-hearted look at the age-old story of Rapunzel and the evil woman who keeps her trapped in a tremendously tall tower for years on end. The Walt Disney film came out in 2010 and is a movie that both adults and children can (thoroughly) enjoy with enduring characters to make everyone laugh. The upcoming films for kiddies on the other hand look a little grim.
Canadian animation studio, Starz Animation, is set to release a movie that will probably have William Shakespeare doing twinkly-twirls in his grave. Cue Gnomeo and Juliet, an animated story loosely (see: exactly) based on Shakespeare’s beloved bittersweet romance Romeo and Juliet.
The tale follows two communities of Gnomes living in adjacent gardens; the Reds and the Blues. There is a long-standing family-feud that keeps the two communities from living in peace, and of course one girl-gnome from the Reds falls for a boy-gnome from the Blues. True Shakespearean calamity. The only thing is this; as far as I can tell from the trailer, the movie is lackluster and to be perfectly honest an embarrassment to one of the worlds greatest love stories.
While I know it’s difficult for an independent studio that isn’t Pixar or Disney to come up with an instant hit with moms, dads and the little ones, Starz Animation can’t be serious. I mean “Gnomeo”? Come on. But the film is backed by top name celebrities such as Elton John (responsible for the soundtrack and the only possible reason that the filmmakers would include a very flamboyantly camp gnome), Emily Blunt, James McAvoy and Ozzy Osbourne.
After successful hits like Toy Story 3, The Frog Princess and How to Train your Dragon, kids are expected to watch a cheesy story about chubby garden gnomes running around pretending to be historical literature characters. Maybe it’s just me but I’m detecting a serious disappointment factor coming up for the world’s children.
Surprisingly, despite its long-time success with the beloved stories, Disney has decided to curb its adaptation of fairy tales from now on. It might be because Tangled won neither of the awards it was nominated for at the Golden Globe Awards. An online phrogger called Meredith seems to think it’s a new trend; fairy tales have lost their shine. Apparently Disney has revealed that it has no future plans to release another animated fairy tale.
That’s a shame; we’ll probably be seeing more clumsy adaptations of the greats of literature. And if “Gnomeo” is anything to go by, I’m not going to like it. Who knows though, maybe the kids will and I guess that’s all that matters in Disneyworld.
Jade Scully is a copywriter excited about writing copy and stories, blogging about the world and editing. She currently and regularly publishes her stories on a number of blogs. Jade loves animals and hopes to begin writing copy for the animal rescue charity TEARS as her contribution to the cause.
